The Labor Department's report Thursday suggests that layoffs, while still breathtakingly high, are steadily declining after sharp spikes in late March and early April. Initial claims for unemployment aid have now fallen for five straight weeks, from a peak of nearly 6.9 million during the week that ended March 28.

To ensure social distancing, business parks have prohibited congregations in the campuses, including smoking zones and other common areas. They have also decided to keep creche facility, gym and other recreational activities closed for the time being.

Uber instituted a hiring freeze in March, withdrew its financial forecast and wrote down some $2 billion worth of investments in April and said Monday it would shutter food delivery operations in seven countries.

"We appreciate the government's efforts to safeguard the nation as it grapples with the pandemic. Interventions in the form of relief measures by the RBI or more recently, renewed MHA guidelines in the wake of lockdown 2.0, have offered some relief to the mounting stress on the economy," Industry body chief Kumar Rajagopalan said in a statement.

In the U.S., diagnostic testing for the novel coronavirus has become a massive logistical failure, making it impossible to track how much the virus has truly spread and how many people it has sickened.

Restrictions on number of workers in factories located in green and amber zones, specially for food products companies, need to be relaxed as meeting demand will become difficult and can lead to scarcity, according to a senior official of biscuits major Parle Products.

The Covid-19 outbreak has transformed the way organisations work and respond, and caused an adoption of new practices in a matter of days to respond to the crisis situation. Companies have adopted adaptable organisation models to deal with the situation, finds the report ‘Adaptable Organisation: The New Normal’ by Deloitte.

The patriarchal family structure, lack of education and required skills, restriction to household chores, lack of access to a safe workplace, maternity benefit and gender gap in pay are some reasons that deter women to participate in India’s labour force.

In an interview with ET’s Brinda Sarkar, Sumeet Doshi, country manager - India, Kronos, says organisations need to space out how employees join shifts and workforce management solutions can play a critical role in helping organisations plan these staged arrivals.